By Poulami Kundu
SHILLONG, March 5: Making women’s issues such as menstrual hygiene, access to education and employment opportunities a part of regular discourses will allow bridging the gender gap in the society, said Isawanda Laloo, Deputy Commissioner of East Khasi Hills.
Laloo was speaking at an event organised by the Rotary Club at The Shillong Club, Khyndai Lad, on Friday to felicitate women achievers from the state ahead of International Women’s Day.
Sharing experiences from her stints in rural Meghalaya, Laloo said, “When I organised sessions on women’s health in villages, men hesitated to participate. But when I held discussions on open defecation, they did come forward and I encouraged them to understand why public toilets were important for women travellers.”
The deputy commissioner said it was important for women to understand and encourage each other. She stressed on educating children on gender equality.
Patricia Mukhim, a social activist and Editor of The Shillong Times, said, “It is society that defines gender. Nobody has said that a man can’t do what a woman does. Just because we grow up learning these constructs, it gets difficult to get rid of these ideas from our system once we grow up.”
“We need to dismantle such constructs to bring equality,” Mukhim said.
Veteran politician Roshan Warjri said women must face challenges head-on to bring change in the society.
A 27-year-old entrepreneur, Jaya Vaswani, said, “Ours is a matrilineal society. However, we are yet to achieve equality. Women still fear to step out of their houses late at night. I hope we, as young women, can do our best to bring change.”
Arundhati Paul, president of the Rotary Club of Shillong, said all stakeholders in the society should imbibe the value of gender equality to ensure women empowerment.
Melanie Pariat, 25, founder of event planning company, East End events, said, “All young and ambitious women entrepreneurs have a desire to make a difference, but it is not easy to scrape through a man’s world. They need to face many challenges to succeed.”
Pianist lavinia Kharkhongor, educator Farida Warjri and presidents of various clubs also attended the event.